Precursors of Man and Void
by Archon of Darkness
Summary: The United Nations of Man has stood for 50 years with its allies. But now a dire threat awaits, and an ancient enemy shall soon return. They wish for nothing but the death of all Mankind.
1. History and Intro

**A/N: Ok, this is gonna be a pretty long author's note.**

**Third time's the charm, am I right?**

**This is my third attempt at a war fic. Few of you probably saw my first, and there's no freakin' way I'm talking about it. That thing was an abomination to writing. My second was only marginally better. But THIS time around, I'm pulling out the stops. I have a beta reader (thank you Mark Ryan for that :)), I've done buttloads of research on wikis and whatnot, and I'm REALLY fleshing out the story.**

**Now, FF only has sections for Warhammer and Starcraft, so I put this down as a crossover for them. But this also involves Supreme Commander and Zorg Empires (an MMORTS I play, it has zero story, so I had a lot of fun coming up with stuff for it :D).**

**Now, about the story. I'm going to finish The Emperor's Daughter before I do any more with this, since that story's just a few chapters from being finished, then I'll get right back on this. This story is gonna have the longest chapters I've ever written, I'm talking SpaceCowboy13 long (if you've read the two chapters so far of Sins of a Galactic Empire, you know what I mean)...ok maybe not THAT long, but you never know...**

* * *

History

The United Nations of Man had grown as a symbol of the worlds of humankind, as well as, for the most part, a beacon of friendship towards all alien races. Its formation did not happen, however, for a long time after what has become known as 'the Event.'

The Event has come to be known by many names, ranging from 'the Revelation' to 'the Impossible.' The last name is probably the most fitting, as this was an event that had been believed up to the point in question to be scientifically as well as mathematically impossible.

The existence of more than one Earth.

But it was true. There was found to be four Earths, each with almost the exact same history, though the paths of technological evolution varied greatly from one to the next.

It began with only three: Holy Terra of the Imperium of Man, the Homeworld of the United Empires, and the world simply called 'Earth' by the United Earth Coalition, or UEC. Their existences were revealed to each other with the breakthrough of the UEC's first intergalactic Quantum Gateway, a much larger version of the space gates that had previously allowed them instantaneous interstellar travel. The first half of the gateway had been sent to what was later shown to be the Imperial Milky Way several decades prior to the Event through the use of an experimental FTL drive. Due to the speeds of its transportation, the installation was unmanned. It self activated upon arrival, sending confirmation signals back to 'Big Brother,' the other half of the gateway stationed in Coalition space. In time, the UEC sent a heavily armed exploratory vessel through. Having only recently seen the end of the Infinite War and Seraphim Conflict, the Coalition nations – previously warring factions – were unwilling to venture any form of unarmed craft.

Meanwhile, the United Empires, easily the most advanced of the human nations, was in a golden age. Its empires spanned the better part of three galaxies, the various emperors and governments of the imperial states governed wisely under the central leadership of the elected Supreme Emperadas. As their steadily advancing technology allowed faster and faster travel, an exploratory fleet was dispatched to the present day Imperial State – then simply the Imperium's Milky Way – in hopes of discovering new alien races. The United Empires encompassed several alien member-races, but these races were excessively war-like and barbaric and therefore had to be treated much more like slave nations.

The three forces met when the UEC's Cybran battlecruiser came under attack from a Chaos battle barge and several strike cruisers. Despite its heavier armor and armaments, the UEC vessel was unprepared for the drastically different naval warfare of the Imperial galaxy, and quickly the Chaos flotilla gained the upper hand. At this point, both the United Empire forces and a nearby Imperial fleet had received the UEC transmission, overcame the superficial linguistic issues, and came to their aid. Under the combined assault of three empires, the Chaos forces were driven off.

The three forces hastily organized a meeting aboard the UEC vessel. There was great confusion amongst them – especially the ever-suspicious Imperials, who mistook the Cybrans for heretical members of the Mechanicum, due to their angular and dark ship designs. Fortunately, an Imperial commander quickly diffused the situation by noting the technology levels of the Cybrans were far beyond even Mechanicum capabilities.

Even the Emperian group was wary of the UEC, seeing their possession of quantum weaponry and the remarkable Quantum Gateway. These achievements were beyond the Emperian, who were decades ahead of the UEC in terms of technological development.

After a meeting of the commanding officers of each group, it was decided each would return to their respective governing bodies. A future meeting was decided upon, to be held at the Quantum Gateway. Despite their agreement, though, each side was naturally wary of the others.

Due to this, each government arrived in force with full armadas. With all three groups up in arms, it was decided they would only near each other in transports, and communicate from there.

The meeting went without incident, and the three nations soon began sending envoys to each other. Eventually, the nations formed beneficial relationships, trading technology as well as aid.

The first aid to be traded was the annihilation of the xenos horde in the Imperial Milky Way. Though the United Empires and United Earth Coalition absolutely refused to fight the Eldar or Tau, saying that the Imperium was blinded by religious over-zealotry in that matter, they went out in full force against the Necrons, Tyranids, Orks, and Chaos. The former three were all but extinguished. The latter managed to resist, giving horrific casualties to all three sides. It was then that the Coalition began using their experimental weapons.

Most of these did little to help, despite their massive size and firepower. However, the Galactic Colossus Sacred assault walker and the newly developed King Kryptor siege walker changed that with their weapons. Quantum weapons.

The effect was devastating.

On all fronts of the conflict, the weapons tore through every defense that the Chaos forces possessed. Even greater daemons that were expected to easily overcome the weapons were defeated. Eventually, the Warp spawn were chased straight out of the Imperium and into the darkest corners of the galaxy, where the combined armies did not dare venture.

Then the Imperials began to wonder as to why the Quantum weaponry had been so affective. They attempted to have the weapons examined through psychic means, but the psykers were unable to approach the weapons without experiencing debilitating pain. Any successful attempts to reach the weapons with a psyker ended in unmitigated disaster. Closer inspection of the wreckage of such events revealed that the psykers reacted to the Quantum weaponry like anti-matter coming into contact with matter. From this, a hypothesis was formed that quantum power was almost like an anti-Warp technology. Imperial scientists went so far as to venture that there was an alternate Quantum dimension, similar to but wholly opposite of the Warp.

An era of relative peace began. The United Empires still had to contend with a violent insurrection in this period, and the Coalition was experiencing great turmoil amongst its member states. The Imperium took advantage of the preoccupation of its allies, as well as its new wealth of resources and technology thanks to the nearly complete destruction of Chaos, to enact the extermination of the Tau Empire and the remnants of the Eldar. Both the United Empires and UEC expressed disagreement at these actions, but were unable to provide any real preventative measures at the time.

It was the in the midst of these struggles that yet another Earth was found.

It was most likely in the worst possible way, as well. An unidentified, primitive ship arrived in Imperial space by unknown means, registering a quantum signature. An Imperial strike force descended with all possible speed on the ship, and was absolutely shocked by what they were met with.

The ship was under assault by beings that nearly exactly resembled the all-but-extinct Tyranid, hated enemy of the Imperium.

The Dominion War

The Zerg – as they were known by this newly arrived force – were dispatched by the Imperial forces, using tactics that had been effective against the Tyranid. The immense confusion on the unidentified ship was quickly rectified by the Imperium, who realized they had likely found signs of another Earth. For a short period following, things went relatively well.

The United Empires and UEC both settled their own domestic affairs and rejoined the intergalactic stage. Relationships with the Terran Dominion grew and were cordial.

Quickly, though, new problems arose.

It soon came to light that the Terran Dominion was in a situation not dissimilar to that the Imperium had left not long ago: the Dominion was plagued by rebellion and external war. The Terran Rebels, led by a man named James Raynor, fought against the Dominion's totalitarian rule. The details of the dispute led to a division among the four human nations.

The rebels fought on the side of the alien Protoss, a highly advanced race that warily accepted the partnership. This cooperation automatically alienated the Imperium, not only due to their religiously ingrained xenophobia, but also because of the uncanny resemblance between the Protoss and the Tau and Eldar, both in technology, powers, and appearance. The very nature of these dissidents was contrary to the Imperial stance of total dominance over it's people, and their deep-seated hatred for disloyalty – such disloyalty having been one of the main issues for the Imperium in the times leading up to the Event. Naturally, the Imperials immediately sided with the Dominion and sent military aid.

They made the deadly mistake of threatening the Coalition and United Empires to do the same, however. Their message demanded that the other governments side with the Dominion for fear of military repercussions. The only response was outrage.

The two nations had never previously considered attacking the Imperium. They had, however, secretly agreed to send resources to the rebels, while staying officially neutral in the conflict. They looked down upon the totalitarian Dominion government just as much as the Imperium did on the rebels. Neither side reacted well to the threat.

The United Empires cherished freedom. It was this aspect of their culture that gave each empire-state the freedom to choose its own government, as well as what kept political corruption at relatively low levels, whether out of respect or out of fear of the terrible consequences. The outright threats issued by the Imperium were considered unforgiveable affronts. The Empereans promised vengeance against the Imperium, though, oddly, not against the Dominion.

For the Coalition, this was a forced, painful reminder of the days of the Infinite War. For the Illuminate and Cybrans, it presented a bitter memory of the ultimatum of the United Earth Federation. For the Federation, it was a strike at their pride, as no one living in the current nation considered the war to be a proud moment in their history. On top of this, there was no ignoring the clear messages in the Imperial communications. The UEC knew better than to consider them as threats. These were promises.

All out war was inevitable.

It all began with wild underestimation on every side. The Protoss wrongly assumed the Imperium to be as primitive as the Terrans. They were met with the seemingly immortal Adeptus Astartes, who far outmatched anything the Terran military had to offer. They were greatly shocked by this, even more so by what the other powers brought to the table.

The United Empires expected their ways of war to dominate. However, while they enjoyed their naval control of intergalactic space, their ground forces were outmatched and outgunned in every battle, even by the relatively primitive Terrans. There was only so much that their naval power could do.

The Coalition had believed that they were undefeatable with their Quantum technology, which all other factions had come to fear. The Imperium, though, was delighted to find that they had all misunderstood the relationship between the Warp and Quantum energy.

To summarize, just as anti-matter destroys matter, so matter destroys anti-matter. This was proved in a painful demonstration, when an Imperial psyker managed to defeat a Galactic Colossus with no more than a well placed bolt of energy. The Warp energy surged through the war machine to its Quantum engine, destroying it outright.

Quickly the conflict escalated to ferocious heights. It came to a point where the Dominion, Rebel, and Protoss forces could do no more than sit on the sidelines and watch in terror at the spectacle of warfare far beyond their imaginations.

The war dragged on in the Dominion's territory, but the Imperium was sure to be pushed back. Against the united front of the UEC and United Empires, Imperial and Dominion defeat was ensured. In time, the latter was pushed all the way back to Earth, where they were forced to surrender. The Imperium was pushed right out of the galaxy.

In the aftermath of the war, however, the sector was in total anarchy, and without any form of leadership. It was clear that without a form of centralized government, humanity would slip back into further turmoil in that galaxy. Harsh as the Dominion had been, many people in the sector preferred them to the Rebels, who they believed would merely be a second, harsher dictatorship, as the Dominion had been to their predecessors, the Confederacy.

As such, concrete decisions were made. The Earth would be ruled by a newly formed Terran Republic, while space would be set aside in the Greater Angelis cloud near the Imperial galaxy for the remnants of the Dominion. Despite bitter grievances, all parties came to be in agreement. Full support was given from the UEC, United Empires, and at length the Imperium – though it was clearly little more than half-hearted on their part.

It soon came to question whether or not there were more Earths and human societies in the reaches of space, and how civilized these societies might be. After all, four had been discovered thus far, so what barred the possibility of another? That in mind, it was decided that an alliance would be formed. The United Nations of Mankind.

At first, this overarching alliance was intended to include all societies – human or otherwise – that had been discovered. Naturally, the Imperium violently had refused to be party to any such alliance. The Supreme Emperadas, President of the Coalition, and other leaders were exasperated to the point that outright exclusion for the Imperium was considered, just as the Imperials were ready to retract their request to join. But a realization on all sides changed this.

As much as the Imperials hated to admit it, they had grown greatly codependent with the other governments. Their new stellar drives, derived from Emperian technology, required materials that were scarce in Imperial space and abundant in the Empires: zorg crystals. They had also begun using quantum technology begrudgingly loaned to them by the UEC, which would certainly be gleefully rescinded should the Imperium fail to join.

The Coalition and UE had recognized their heavy reliance on the Imperium, as well. While they had plenty of rare metals and crystals, the sheer number of habitable planets in the Imperium – equivalent to more than half of the United Empires, which spanned three galaxies – allowed much easier access to heavy building materials, which was in great demand. And, despite the strife that afflicted some of the planets, from remaining military threats to even the massive pollution and infrastructural disrepair, the Imperium possessed one thing that the others did not.

Adamantium.

This light, extremely strong metal had proved perfect in Quantum power sources, as well as several aspects of Emperian technology, but it was found only in the Imperium. Losing it would send the two nations back several years, technology wise. It was easily mined, refined, and even made through artificial means by the Imperials. It was almost enough to make an Emperian or UEC officer wince at how common it was, being used in everything from bolter shells to ceremonial swords made purely from the metal.

It was eventually decided that a compromise would be made. The alien races would be barred from the alliance, but would remain on treaty terms with the human nations – including the Imperium. All sides agreed to the terms, if somewhat hesitantly.

Thus, the United Nations of Man was born.

It has been almost fifty years since the UNA was formed, and peace has reigned for that time. Now something stands on the horizon, an enemy known by all sides in the war to come, an enemy that wishes for nothing but the ultimate destruction of Mankind and its allies. It is an old enemy, one far older than any of the races, one that long ago claimed the Universe as their own.

They shall soon come to reclaim it.

* * *

**Author's note: From here on out, this is info about the military forces of the United Empires. I thought I should put this since people will be familiar with stuff from Warhammer 40k, Supreme Commander, and Starcraft, but probably not from Zorg Empires, partially cause a lot of you probably don't play it, and also because a lot of this is made up by me, since the game doesn't give much info.**

The United Empires' navy consists of two forces, the Home Navy fleets of each member empire – governments that were generally sovereign, though they answered to the authority of the Homeworld – and the United Navy, which is formed from contributions of the empires. This organization made the Emperian United Navy an impressive and varied force to behold, as each empire had its own style of ships.

Ships:

Morthos Class Destroyer- A far departure from what a destroyer typically is in other navies. The Morthos is the absolute largest regular combat ship in existence, dwarfing every other vessel used by any nation. It is armed with a pair of the most fearsome weapon used besides the quantum cannon, the ion mortar. These two massive systems, one on the underside and one on the top, fire a massive shell weighing hundreds of tons surrounded by a wreath of ions. This acts as a one-two punch. The ions pierce and shred shields more efficiently than any other weapon, while the several hundred ton, high explosive shell completely vaporizes small ships and rips larger ships to pieces. Powerful as it is, though, the Morthos Class has its weaknesses. For one, the ion mortar's gauss coils can take from five to fifteen minutes to cool, depending on the size of the ion wreath, and a twenty second pre-firing phase is required to gather the wreath. The Destroyer itself is vulnerable to fighter attack, being too large and cumbersome to maneuver adequately, its ion mortars being useless against them, and having few point-defense weapons, its design instead focusing on secondary anti-capitol plasma and ion cannons. It also caries massive amounts of delicate hardware and sensors dedicated to the ion mortars. While these have adequate backups set deep in the ship's hull, there is significant downtime as the systems switch to undamaged ones.

Judicator Class Battleship- The main combat ship of the United Navy. This ship is manufactured by an empire of harsh worlds, dedicated only to the form-to-function doctrine. As such, the Judicator class resembles little more than a glorified, flying brick. Nonetheless, any crewman who has ever served aboard one can describe it in three words: One tough sonuvabitch. True to this description comparative to its defenses, weapons, and size, the battleship is the most powerful ship in the UE navy. It takes a ship-killing hit to knock it out of action, as its incredibly sturdy design allows it to continue fighting even when hit with several crippling blows. Its ion cannons, gauss marauders, 4 triple plasma cannons, and squadrons of fighters tear holes in any fleet before going down, often outlasting capitol ships with far more powerful weapons. Its only weakness is being surrounded, as that can allow it to be battered into submission before it can mount a true attack, as it has a limited number of turrets. The most famous ship of this class is the UES Reaper, which, while stranded from its group, still managed to take out several Imperial battleships during the Dominion War. It was destroyed when it rammed a battle barge in an act of mutual destruction.

Ghost Light Fighter- Little more than a cockpit, engines, and a light plasma laser. This craft is extremely light to the point of being incapable of atmospheric flight, but effective due to its above-average maneuverability. While useless against anything except space-based fighter craft, it does its job exceedingly well, swarming in and destroying entire squadrons with few losses. Its weakness, however, is its obvious vulnerability. It takes very little to destroy it, and its maneuverability does little to protect it against ship-based point defense systems.

Tangent Heavy Fighter- A heavier support fighter. The Tangent is meant to carry out what the Ghost is simply incapable of, atmospheric combat and heavy support. This two-man craft is armed with two sets of Vulcan cannons – one set in the wings, meant for firing forward, and a turreted set just behind the cockpit, controlled by the co-pilot. It also possesses internal slots for missiles or bombs. While much larger than light fighters, they are still too small for an energy shield, though they have moderate armor. They have the same general weaknesses as Ghosts, though. They are vulnerable to ship-based weapons. Though they are moderately armored, there are usually fewer on the battlefield than there are light fighters, and therefore can be overwhelmed.

Dynamis Class Battlecruiser- Of slightly larger size than the Judicator Class, this class comes from an empire quite fond of organic-looking designs. The Dynamis isn't actually intended for combat with other ships its size. Instead, it is loaded with heavy anti-fighter weapons and extremely fast engines for a ship of its mass. Though it shreds through squadron upon squadron of fighters with ease, battleships and capitol ships can easily overcome it.

Dalphalon Class cruiser- A small, agile vessel designed for a single niche. The Dalphalon is essentially a super heavy fighter, designed to take out other fighters. Its smooth, polished design sets it far apart from the bird-like Tangent and mosquito-like Ghost. Fighters are little threat against it, nor are ships with a similar purpose as the Dynamis.

Salamander Heavy Bomber- A devastating, small, and heavily armed craft. Though initially designed to take out planetary defenses and provide short range air support, the Salamander was quickly found to be quite affective against ships. It is the smallest ship in the navy to be equipped with an ion mortar, though it is an extremely small version. This, as well as its meltabunch plasma loaded missiles and railcannons, make it a force to be reckoned with in groups. Despite its lethality toward heavy ships, however, it is far too slow to evade fighter groups, though it is able to fend them off to extent with its two small Vulcan cannons. Like all UE naval vessels, it possesses a stellar drive and – unlike fighters – an intergalactic warp drive. It will typically hitch a ride on other ships with magnetic clamps, being too large for the fighter bays, to avoid using its much slower drives.

Deimos class supercarrier- While many Emperian ships possess fighter bays, conditions in battle commonly call for far more strike craft than they can carry. Thus the Deimos class finds its niche. Constructed by an empire made up of the Homeworld's oldest colonies, the ship resembles the ancient planetside aircraft carriers used before space travel. Hundreds of aircraft call these vessels, each nearly the size of a Destroyer, their home. The carrier is also armed with sufficient guns to defend itself, but usually remains at the rear, as it was not intended for front line combat.

JA-983 "Death Star" Ultra Heavy Assault Platform- Though named after a famous super weapon from an ancient sci-fi series, the JA-983 is not, in fact, planet buster, though it is capable of destroying a planet's surface. Though limited in that aspect, the Death Star is nonetheless an ominous force to behold. The size of a small moon, the massive assault platform is capable of carrying hundreds of craft inside, from Ghosts and landing craft to Salamanders and Dalphalons. It has no 'super laser,' but is instead armed with thousands of smaller turrets, hundreds of gauss and plasma cannons, and six massive ion mortars, even larger than those carried by Destroyers. The massive station has only one true weakness: cost. The amount of resources necessary to construct a single Death Star is atrocious. Its cost is large enough, in fact, that only five have been built in the entirety of the United Empires. Luckily for the Imperials, two of the five were still under construction during the Dominion war, and the Earth government did not deem it worth the risk of sending in one of the finished three, as some freak accident could easily destroy it when the normal forces were holding their own quite well. The JA-983 is by far the slowest stellar craft in the entirety of the United Nations of Man, capable only of traveling at a crawl to avoid crashing into a planet, which smaller ships only need small maneuvers to avoid, and even give stars (which are of no consequence to smaller ships while in stellar space) a reasonable space. On the flip side, it is also the absolute fasted warp craft, as it is able to devote far more energy to its drive during the acceleration period of the travel. A JA-983 would only take three days and two hours to reach the Greater Angelis cloud from the Regnum Victoria galaxy of the United Empires. The two are on opposite sides of all known space from each other.

Constructed Death Stars:

_City of Vengeance_

_City of Desperation_

_City of Judgment_

_Legacy of Torment_

_Envoy of Damascus_


	2. Horizon

__

Precursors of Man and Void

Chapter 1

Horizon

_The doors opened._

_In strode a being clothed in black robes. Great, bright yellow eyes shined beneath its wrapped head. No other features could be seen. Its knees appeared crooked, almost broken. As it stepped into the light, however, it was clear that they did not face forward, but backward. The being was not human._

_A monstrous - yet beautiful - machine stood before him. The bluish crystal inlays and golden, smooth design so common amongst his race were present on it, but something else was there as well. These constructs on the massive thing made the Protoss decorations seem as rough as sandpaper, and had a calm, silver color to them. The machine formed a great hollow at its center._

_The being walked closer to the machine. He paused before it, nearly reverent in his hesitant care, and then placed his hand on the line where the gold and silver met._

_The machine stirred._

_The being hurriedly stepped back and bowed his head. At the center of the machine, a jagged hole tore into existence. Raw quantum power poured from the wound in reality. However, it grew only for a few seconds, halting at a size barely that of the being's fist. He cringed at that realization. Even then, though, a blue and silver aura of energy flowed through the room. He could hardly imagine the potential it had in its full glory._

_Then, a voice echoed through his mind, though it echoed as if in a room of wide walls._

You kept us waiting_, a deep, male voice said. The energy within the room pulsed with each syllable._

_The being bowed again before responding. "Please, forgive me. Events have been moving apace, and I have not had adequate time for a true report." It would seem strange to most. Though the speech of the being's kind was psychic, it acted much like normal sound. It echoed, it became quieter over distance, and it could be overheard. He could speak with 'true' telepathic speech, but that would be a waste. There was no risk of being eavesdropped upon here._

Explain_, another voice said. It was female this time._

_Protoss facial expressions were subtle, but even then, the smile could be seen in the being's bright eyes._

"_The Solution is underway," He thought for a moment. "In fact, I believe it is being enacted even as we speak..."_

* * *

**UCS Warmonger**  
**Solution class Quantum Control Ship**  
**Imperial Galaxy**

_Man, this is one helluva light show._

So Captain Maxwell Jackson thought as his ship, the _Warmonger_, unleashed all of its force on the obstacle ahead; the snarling form of a Warp chasm.

Of course, the _Warmonger _was no normal military ship. It was the first of the new class now roaming the Imperium. The Solution class.

The thing was large. The _Warmonger _was nearly the size of its accompanying battle barge, the _Far-Reaching Hand_, but it had almost no armor. Most of its tonnage was due to one of the most powerful quantum reactors in known space, a reactor that connected directly to the ship's single turret.

The very same turret providing the light show.

A massive rope of quantum power arched from the barrel, lengthening into a cone shape as it connected to the chasm. The blue and silver power wrapped around the red and purple, though the latter appeared to fight back with its full might. Raw Chaos surged from the core of the chasm, rippling and writhing like a nest of beheaded snakes. The captain could just imagine how what the energy was doing to anything on the other side. Judging from vids he had seen of the affect of Quantum weapons on Warp daemons, it wasn't pretty.

"What's our status?" the captain asked.

A man at one of the two consoles at his side spoke up. "The main battery is at forty percent, sir. All backups are prepped and ready." His voice echoed a little in the spacious bridge of the _Warmonger_.

The captain smiled. "Excellent. We might even get ourselves a record with this one." True to it, the chasm shrank a bit even as he said the words.

All of this was a part of Operation: Solution, a plan to effectively eliminate the Warp's influence on the Imperium once and for all. It was obviously impossible to destroy the Warp itself, and new Warp holes would inevitably pop up every once in a while, but never again would it be enough to gain another foothold in Imperial pace.

Created specifically for this purpose, Solution class ships of UEC build would continually hunt down any Warp chasms detected. The current campaign was slated to end at the mother of all Warp holes, the Eye of Terror itself. Almost every quantum control ship - as they were officially called - currently in operation would be needed for the task of closing it.

The captain sank back into his command chair, enjoying the rather awe-inspiring sight. The continuous torrent of quantum energy looked almost like the flow of some ghastly, space-borne river. The collision of quantum and Warp power resembled a waterfall plunging into a volcano.

A flash in the corner of Jackson's eye caught his attention. Turning his head, he saw an explosion bloom as a new crater appeared on the broken Warp hulk.

_Those goddamn Imperials just love playing with their prey, don't they?_

The space hulk had just left the chasm when the _Warmonger_ and _Far-Reaching Hand_ had arrived at the scene. The thing was far more corrupted than even most of the Imperials had ever seen. It seemed to be made out of flesh and bone as much as it was out of metal. Its shape constantly shifted as it constructed new parts of itself. Luckily, it appeared to follow many of the laws of a living thing. For one, it seemed young. It also tired itself out in the space of its first salvoes, as though fatigued by the engagement. However, the battle barge had not outright destroyed it. They contented themselves with simply blasting off every new turret and engine that it made.

Not surprising coming from people who used explosive shells against infantry units, easily a war crime in the UEC... if they still used infantry, that is. Either way, the Imperium knew the perfect ways to torment and torture their enemies, and loved doing it as well. No doubt, the daemon's impotence was driving it absolutely mad. Its hull writhed in a disgusting manner. Captain Jackson took that as a sign of rage. Yet it could do nothing else. No matter how fast the metal and flesh formed into cannons and engines, the Imperial craft hammered away at the new appendages, blasting them right off.

There seemed to be only two types of officers in the Imperium: ones who killed anything that could even possibly be a threat and those that preferred to torture threats when they believed them impotent. The former usually had the longest careers.

Jackson's smile dissipated. That reminded him of the others he had on board. Imperials.

The decicion to have them on board each Solution class ship had been…unpopular with both the Imperium and the Coalition soldiers. Yet, it made sense. The Imperial Guard had a lot more experience with Chaos than any Federation soldier (the only Coalition troops present), and could repel any invasion much more easily.

"Sir, the Warp closing has accelerated." The report jolted Jackson from his reverie. The captain's triumphant grin returned.

Only a few minutes later, it was over.

As the huge, lasso like stream retreated back into the barrel of the _Warmonger_'s single turret, activity on the bridge increased as preparations were made for an FTL jump to the next target. Several communications officers chattered into their headsets, coordinating with their equivalents on board the battle barge as it readied its own stellar drive.

Space outside shifted as the _Warmonger _changed vectors toward its new destination.

Captain Jackson finished updating his orders and walked back to his command chair.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

_A collection of sighs resounded off the walls. The being looked up sharply - he had just told them that it was underway, but this was hardly the reaction he had expected._

Already it has begun_, a voice said. A host of others spoke as well._

My mind's chains have been loosened.

I can feel so much more_._

The influence of _Them _is coming to an end.

_They went on. The Protoss then realized what had happened and 'smiled.' So the Warp was already weakening. Soon... soon, they could return._

_The voices quieted after a moment. Silence reigned. The being waited patiently. He knew that their speech was telepathic. They could just be speaking with one another at the moment._

Finally_, a deep voice echoed into his mind._

You have served your masters well, very well. We have investigated, and the effects of _Them _shall be all but gone ahead of schedule with this development. We shall soon return in force and reclaim that which we have lost.

_The being put a fist to his chest and began to back away. Time's wound began to close. But the voice spoke out just before it sealed._

Do not slip while we are this close to our ascension. Do not fail us...Artanis...

* * *

**Terran Galaxy**  
**Protoss Quadrant, Aiur**  
**Executor's Fleet, unnamed transport, designated "VIP" class by Terrans**

Home.

It was amazing how things could change. In the span of little more than fifty years (merely the blink of an eye to the long lived Protoss), Aiur had been destroyed…and then returned to its former glory.

Golden spires shone like the sun overhead outside, seeming to slowly descend.

Arbiter Rahn'ma turned from the sight with a heavy heart. It was true, his heart had rejoiced with his people when the United Earth Coalition revealed their advanced terraforming technology, and went so far as to offer its use on the ancestral home world of the Firstborn, but it was also a reminder of what he had lost in the decades previous.

It was the very reason he had abandoned the mantle of the Executor, and had instead named himself an Arbiter, forever shamed, marked by his failure. But he had created a haven for those like him, a society where those who could not bear their own failure could still hold their head up among their own kind.

He had created the Tribunal.

And he, its Arbiter, would lead them as he had failed to do so before. He would do so hidden from the eyes of his people, leading in secret. He would not be found, surely those few who were left would have forgotten about him.

Alas, it was not to be. The new Executor had sought him out as an envoy to the United Nations of Mankind. That position had once been held by the Judicators, but no more. Was the Tribunal to replace that caste? If Rahn'ma had anything to do with it, the Tribunal would remain a shadow of the Firstborn, always serving in the shadows as names alone, but it would never be its own caste.

Yet all the same, he was chosen to be the ambassador to nations that far outmatched the Protoss, and nations consisting of many who want nothing but the destruction of anything that is not human. And no matter his past failures that stained him, Rahn'ma would always bear his responsibility to his people, all the more, in fact, because of his failure.

Yet why was he in the Executor's own fleet? Why would an _Executor_ seek to carry him? Surely whoever it was would not care for him or who he was, some forgotten warrior, and simply give him a contingent of guards and send him on his way.

The skies began to grow dark as Aiur descended. For a short while, the endless black was all that he could see outside, then a shimmering light, then the endless swirling of warp space.

Rahn'ma had his suspicions about who it was who had called for him. Artanis, perhaps seeking another chance to berate him about how _he_ should have been chosen as Executor instead of some failure. No doubt he was enjoying his position as Praetor now.

No, it was best not to think that. The Arbiter had seen how hurt the current Praetor had been by Fenix's second, permanent death had been. It was understandable why he had been so angry at Rahn'ma, it was his fault.

Footsteps sounded from the hall. They were lithe, but heavy, as though the source was wearing armor.

_The Executor, a female_, Rahn'ma thought.

A woman? That fact was surprising, yet not at the same time. There had never been female Executor before, but with the waves of sudden, overwhelming change that had happened just before the Arbiter had left, it made sense. He turned to face the door.

Why would the Executor come to him?

He stopped wondering once she entered the doorway. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other.

"Executor," Rahn'ma said in a clipped tone.

Executor Selendis shook her head and took a step forward.

"I ask only that my subordinates call me that," she looked into his eyes. "...not my old friends."

The former Executor cocked his head slightly. He had a sneaking suspicion as to who had sought him out now.

"Why did you find me?" He asked, his tone the same. She flinched at it before answering, the emotions radiating from her seemed to dim slightly.

"The same reason that you were once again appointed Executor after Aiur's fall half a century ago!" she shot back. "We need you. This United Nations...they want nothing but our demise! With our numbers barely more than they were at the Fall, we cannot afford another war. If it were up to me-"

"Enough!" Rahn'ma yelled. He could sense where this was going. The Executor's emotions were reaching a peak. He knew how she had felt about his choice. Yet...there was something else there, something that hadn't been there before...or had it?

The Executor stepped back, her eyes wide. That's when Rahn'ma knew he had done something, enough to cause the unruffleble woman to step back, but whether it was his response or his emotions...maybe even something else, he did not know.

"I made my choice decades ago," he declared in a much quieter voice, though it was still full of steel. "_Accept it_."

Even the Arbiter's own eyes widened a bit at the vehemence in those last two words, but he pressed on.

"I am a failure," he continued, bitterness dripping from his words. "I have failed my brethren, my friends, my people. All of them."

A psionic hiss went through the room, the equivalent of a Terran sucking in his breath.

"I was told to abandon my closest friend, my brother, in battle by the blasted Conclave...and I obeyed without complaint. And it was all to arrest the one being who could save our planet...and all those people...and yet I obeyed."

Protoss expressions are subtle, they did not have as many facial muscles as mouthed creatures like Humans, Eldar, or Tau. Anyone else would have been unable to see it, but the Arbiter could. He looked away from her eyes, turning his back to her.

"I was too weak to reach Fenix...I watched him die, and I abandoned our world in its most dire hour," He turned briefly to look at Selendis, anger flashing into his eyes.

"You have sought me out, claiming that I am to be an ambassador. Pah! There are many Protoss who can do such! No, by bringing me back out into the light, you have condemned me to suffer in the eyes of our people."

He looked away again.

"I see no failure," Selendis said, almost silently. "I only see one of the greatest heroes in the history of our people, one whom Tassadar himself called a friend, one who fought beside Fenix in the defense of Aiur."

Rahn'ma said nothing, but kept his back to her. His luminous, yellow eyes were closed. His armor made a tinkling sound as he shifted.

His armor…he had crafted it himself. Unlike the bright, sharp armor of the Executor, it was a dark, dull blue. It did not hold the over-shoulder loops either, instead having large, rounded shoulders. It exemplified the contrast between himself and Selendis now more than it had between any other Protoss.

"I see a man who could have had a career beyond what anyone else could dream of," Selendis went on. "And a man who…who could have chosen to end that career as a respected father and mate."

At that last sentence, Rahn'ma tilted his head back and burst out in laughter. He couldn't help it. True, traditionally, Templar who became too old to serve or retired for another reason would often settle down. But the Arbiter? Hah! The very idea…

He turned away from the window, which still showed only warp space. The laughter was immediately gone from his eyes, and the grimness returned in full force. Selendis' face held many emotions. Anger, sadness, all mixed in with something he still could not identify.

"A father?" he asked. "I am a broken man, Selendis. Who would want to spend their life with a man like that?"

She did not meet his eyes, instead tilting it away.

"Rahnnos…" she said softly, seeming to gather to say more.

The Arbiter, on the other hand…

He flinched away at the mention of that _name_; the _name_ that was the source of all his disgrace and shame, the _name_ that he had once borne…as an Executor. His hands gathered into fists, and his eyes narrowed. He noticed nothing about the Executor, only that she had used that _name_.

Arbiter Rahn'ma strode out of the room with loping strides, the cloak of his office flowing out behind him.

Selendis knew he had left, but she moved only to cradle one arm in the other. Her words, intended for him, escaped as a psionic whisper.

"You would be surprised…"

* * *

_A/N: Ok, I guess I should apologize for two things; A) for not posting this earlier, but hey, school is beatin the crap outta me. B) I know that this is a bit Protoss-centric for a story involving four different universes. Not to worry, The Imperium, Coalition, United Empires, Terrans, and whoeverelse will show up, just not this chapter._

_Thank you Mark Ryan for beta reading._

_Reviews are welcome. Questions will be answered at the posting of the next chapter._


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